California Dreamin'

EXPO architecture/long beach The 1960s was a golden era for West Coast architecture. One of the overlooked heroes of the period was Ed Killingsworth, best known for his work with hotels in later life but something of a maverick of modest mid-century housing. His towering doors and expanses of glass remain a treasure of the Long Beach experience. CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ By Ed Stocker Photography Joe Fletcher no109108 — monocle — 000 One gets the sense that Laura Killingsworth isn’t one furniture, this place – which was recently refurbished, its for clairvoyance. And yet, inside her Long Beach home, wooden beams painstakingly replaced – radiates a lived-in she seems to sense something rather strongly. “You don’t air. The architect often chose carpet for his houses and understand,” she says, eyes opening wide for emphasis. here it adds a warmth throughout; so too the abundance of “He’s still in this place.” The 94-year-old – a little unsteady ornaments from Java and Bali – from puppets to Buddha on her feet, perhaps, but still endowed with a razor-sharp heads – adorning the walls and bookshelves, a testament wit and plenty of tales to go with it – is referring to her to Killingsworth’s travels later in his career when he’d late husband, Edward. It was “Mr K”, as she often refers become primarily known for hotel projects. to him, who built the family home back in 1961 and, even Killingsworth was discovered by John Entenza, the if it has been more than a decade since he was physically seminal editor in chief of the equally seminal and now present, his personality remains interlaced with the very defunct Arts & Architecture magazine. Entenza noticed fabric of the place. the architect’s talent when he drove past the first house Ed Killingsworth – one of the sun-soaked West Coast’s Killingsworth built – for Laura’s parents – and subsequently architectural greats – was Long Beach through and through. invited him to join the magazine’s model-home Case Study Perhaps it was because he chose to settle here or perhaps project. One of his most celebrated residences, Opdahl it was simply because he found a reliable contractor who House, is around the corner from the equally renowned worked to his specifications. Whatever the case, the city Frank House, which sits on the banks of the Rivo Alto to the south of Los Angeles rubbed off on him. Rising to canal in the Naples area. A small island accessed by an prominence in the 1950s and 1960s and nourished by the even smaller bridge, Naples bristles with the quiet con- same socially minded ideals of affordability and quality of fidence of money. Dog walkers and the odd person on a life as his southern Californian counterparts, Long Beach is water exercise bike pass eclectic houses that seems to have where he built the majority of his suburban homes. every conceivable architectural style covered, from “stick Marked by its port, a former naval base and a long- style” to “Spanish”, California’s catch-all term for vaguely gone theme park known as The Pike, Long Beach has Mediterranean-looking homes. always been a blue-collar city with a strong identity. And The Opdahl House – jammed into a dense cul-de-sac yet it’s always had affluent neighbourhoods of palm-lined – is named after the first occupant who commissioned roads and eclectic houses speckled with sunlight. In the it. Yet for years, during the latter stages of his career, 1950s Bluff Park, Los Cerritos and Bixby Knolls were Killingsworth had considered the home “lost”. This was ripe for development. Oil and aerospace industries meant due to a previous occupant who had abandoned the mid- there was cash – and a crop of architects for hire. Richard century aesthetics with one particularly dubious upstairs Neutra, John Lautner and the rest all built here, while extension, as well as covering up parts of the original cabi- Long Beach’s Frank Bros – the most famous mid-century netry in the kitchen. The story goes that the nephew of furniture shop in the land – furnished the homes. None, the then-owner worked for the Killingsworth practice and though, tapped Long Beach quite like Killingsworth. gloated about his aunt’s work on the house; Killingsworth A mid-century modern man – think plenty of post- promptly fired him. Thankfully, these days the house is and-beam, vast sweeps of floor-to-ceiling windows and very much “back”. a steadfast dedication to the fluid interchange between The Opdahl House, at 110 sq m, is more in keeping with outdoor and indoor – the architect also had his quirks. the modest homes the architect was known for. Built in 1957, Indeed, wander around the Killingsworth residence – or be it contains a very Killingsworth trait in order to maximise lucky enough to be guided by Laura, who retains plenty of space and ensure privacy: vast side walls and an open front- theatrical flourishes from her decades on the stage – and age that acts as an extended patio. The all-glass façade is you’ll notice some of them. For one, he liked to go for accessed by stepping stones across a water feature. The signature doors, normally floor-to-ceiling affairs that current occupant, Japanese Keiro Koga, says that he has immediately distinguish the house as being by him. In this always been fascinated by US culture from the period case there is a towering set of external, 3.5 metre French and so when the house came on the market in 2010, he doors that open to reveal a strip-like water feature and couldn’t resist. “We love being home,” he says with a smile majestic olive trees inside a large inner courtyard. Indeed, as he surveys his Arthur Umanoff and Peter Hvidt fur- while some modernists played around with positioning, niture. “We don’t go out any more!” He adds, still smil- Killingsworth retained almost a classicist’s dedication to ing, that when he goes away on business trips he of course proportion and symmetry, apparent in the way everything misses his wife Kayo – but he misses the house equally. lines up perfectly as you turn to look at the house from It was actually Andreas Stevens, aka DJ Greyboy, who different 90-degree angles. was responsible for much of the rescue work. The owner Yet part of what’s refreshing about the Killingsworth before Koga, his love of modernism lead him to carefully residence is that, unlike many mid-century houses that restore the house to its previous greatness. And if there’s feel like museum pieces with carefully curated Eames one figure that seemed to tie the disparate Killingsworth Laura Killingsworth at the Long Beach home that husband Ed designed 168 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 169 Outdoor-indoor interplay and a view of the ‘cave’ extension in the Killingsworth residence Water feature viewed from the French doors 170 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 171 Part of the master bedroom The recently refurbished kitchen More outdoors-indoors interplay Majestic olive trees in the outdoor space Photographs of Laura’s long stage career in a bedroom Eastern treasures from Ed Killingsworth’s Asian work and travel 172 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 173 George Nelson furniture and Ynez Johnston art at the Brady House Front patio at the Brady House The Brady House seen from the street, with its epic entrance door Brady House owner Lewy Kallas and his dog Moxie The staircase in the Brady House is classic Killingsworth The Brady House living room with its Noguchi coffee table 174 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 175 Cole’s Killingsworth house from 1953 Nate Cole’s partner Fernanda Nesme with dog Eddie Work space in Cole’s house Kitchen detail, looking through to the living room 176 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 177 Killingsworth’s former architectural practice, now the offices of Kelly Sutherlin McLeod Architecture The recently refurbished Clock, Waestman, Clock office building The Clock, Waestman, Clock building lets light pour in Killingsworth’s former office, now part of Kelly Sutherlin McLeod Architecture 178 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 179 Opdahl House from the lounge, looking towards its water feature Part of the house that former owner Andreas Stevens refurbished Current Opdahl House owner Keiro Koga The bannister rail is fashioned from a single piece of bent metal Pashley bike in the living from of Opdahl House Opdahl House still has its original kitchen cabinets 180 — monocle — no113 no113 — monocle — 181 Frank House on the Rivo Alto canal in Naples appreciators together it was him, a mantle since assumed in the Case Study houses) piece in the bedroom and a by Nate Cole now that Stevens has moved back to San dog-eared but functional Eero Saarinen Womb chair in the Diego. It was Stevens’ mid-century furniture and archi- living room. For Cole, Killingsworth – who never achieved tecture appreciation that began to rub off on his friend the same fame as Richard Neutra, Ray and Charles Cole. Indeed it was enough to convert the former pro Eames, or even Rudolph Schindler – deserves more rec- snowboarder into quite the fan, to such an extent that he ognition. “Among architects he’s very highly regarded,” he now sells modernist homes for a living. Tanned and in his says from an outdoor table. “But he’s still not that well early forties, Cole – who also keeps a mid-century cabin known. He didn’t do that many houses and he wasn’t a up in the mountains around Lake Tahoe – seems more big self-promoter.” architect than extreme sportsman and has owned his own Spend time in Long Beach and you’ll quickly learn to Killingsworth from 1953 for more than a decade.

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